United Airlines marked the inaugural flight of its new San Francisco to Tahiti service with news that the flight will operate year-around.
The flight was originally set to run from October 30, 2018 until March 28, 2019 but now will operate year-around. Through the end of March the flight will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and after March 30, it will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays per the schedule below:
|
Flight |
City Pair |
Depart |
Arrive |
|
UA 115 |
San Francisco – Tahiti |
2:45 p.m. |
9:25 p.m. |
|
UA 114 |
Tahiti – San Francisco |
11:45 p.m. |
9:50 a.m. +1 |
The flight time from San Francisco is not ideal for sleeping, but it timed perfectly for connections across the country.
Although United faces competition from French Bee operating on the same route, the latter is a low-cost carrier that will likely cater to a different demographic than United. I’m only assuming, but I think it is a safe assumption that flight bookings for this flight have been very healthy. Why else would United extend this flight to the low-season? With United’s domestic connectivity, this flight caters to U.S. passengers. But for French passengers who want full service but may wish to avoid a more difficult transit through Los Angeles on Air Tahiti Nui or Air France, the United schedule from Paris also lines up nicely.
CONCLUSION
I still hope to visit Tahiti at the end of next year. In the meantime, you can now book flights to/from Tahiti throughout the year on United.
> Read More: United Will Fly San Francisco to Tahiti
Their flight times are pretty poor if you want to go to any other island the day you arrive. I’m guessing they flipped it to year round because they have nothing else to do with that plane. The timings of the PPT flight can’t easily be flipped to europe as it’s too short, which i’m guessing was their original plan of “figure out how to make it work later”
I disagree that it’s not a great departure time. I would much rather fly west on a daytime flight than a horrible red eye like all of the Asian airlines have out SFO. Thank you United.
I don’t mind the flight times- if they were earlier I wouldn’t be able to catch it from Austin (or anyone from the East coast) so it makes sense to me since I’d rather overnight in Tahiti than SFO. I am pretty sure most people arrive and end up spending a night in Papeete anyway, right? I feel like I read that several places. In any event, TAHITI!!! I am so excited! When my family gets a little older we will try bypassing Hawaii (where we go now) and make it a few hours longer to Tahiti. It’s been on my bucket list for ages. Especially since I checked the Maldives off my list.
Is United allowed to carry French passengers between CDG and PPT? Didn’t the FAA fine some of the Asian airlines for carrying passengers between the mainland and Guam via their asian hubs for violating cabotage rules? I would think that CDG to PPT via SFO would fall under some similar problem.
“Why else would United extend this flight to the low-season?” Because THIS is the low season – they are extending it (wisely) through the peak season, which runs May through October.
I’m surprised this is your only post for today. What happened?
Oh Alan, sometimes we just have one of those days. Mine started at 3:59a and is still hectic. Late night last night too. Look for one more later and we should be back to a normal schedule tomorrow. I appreciate you noticing!
I got it! Take care, and I look forward to the upcoming material!